Lizzano Pistoiese
Lizzano is a village of ancient origins: according to many it is one of the first inhabited villages on the Pistoia mountain. Unfortunately, the terrible landslide of 1814 wiped out all the oldest buildings: the 10th century church, two smaller churches, the pilgrim’s hospital, and the Praetorian Palace.
Despite everything, the Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta has been rebuilt a little further from the original location and, inside it, we can see many of the recovered and saved objects. The landslide did not erase its history and its charm. Born from the Ligurian settlements on the mountain, theatre, as much as its neighbors, of the war between the Gallic tribes of the Boii and the Romans, it was able to exploit the opening of the street that led from Modena to Pistoia, to develop, grow and acquire more and more importance until it became the headquarter of the Captain of the Mountain, alternating with Cutigliano and San Marcello.
As it often happens, the story takes the most unpredictable and unexpected turn and the palace plots are demolished by the most instinctive gestures. According to the legend, indeed, the last Captain stationed in Lizzano fell in love with a local girl. He often went to her house against the will of the family, especially of her brother, who eventually told the nobleman to stay away from his sister. In response, the Captain took advantage of his departure to organize a ball in the Praetorian Palace to which he also invited the girl and he courted her passionately. When her brother came home and found out about the ball, he was furious. He went to the dance, approached the Captain, and threw him out of the window killing him on the spot. So it was that, from 1373, Lizzano no longer hosted the Captain of the Mountain and riots and revenges never seen before began.
The current displacement of the village has been determined by a calamity that engraved forever on the village and on the community: on February 10, 1814, a part of the village of Lizzano Pistoiese was swept away by a huge landslide that caused the collapse of part of the mountain. The landslide was slow, and the human damage was limited, opposite to the material damage, that deeply affected the layout of the village and that gave us the current urban layout of the place.
In Lizzano, in addition to the Pieve, rich in very ancient works and paintings, you can admire the characteristics murals, made in 1988, thanks to the collaboration of the Florentine artists of the Donatello Group, which color and characterize the streets of the village.